Montreal (All-Star Promotion) Discussion

Kudos on this research; I added many results to my Hans Schmidt, Paul Vachon, Dominic DeNucci and Stan Stasiak record books from these listings.

Thanks Kriss and OneFanGang! Yes, this was a chore and a half. I definitely learned a little bit of French along the way.

Thank you for those updates, as this time frame goes beyond my knowledge of some of the wrestlers. I tried to figure out who the Petrov's were, there was a picture in one of the papers, but didn't recoginze the faces. If I get an opportunity, I'll try to go back and post it, and maybe y'all may have an idea.

Will get to 76-79 shortly. Trying to piece together what happened in Montreal and Verdun. Best I can tell so far, in the June 4, 1976 Montreal, Star, "the Superstar Wrestling promotion was sold to Norway (or was it Northway?) Celebrity Wrestling in which Roger Jutras has been installed as president and Huguette Charland as secretary. However the licence still belongs to promoter Bob Langevin who works for Johnny Rougeau's Eastern Sports Enterprises."

"In Verdun, Grand Circuit Wrestling has undergone a similar shakeup. Robert Metfaot is the new president of that group with Steve Paradis the vice-president and Mrs. Raymond Sicotte secretary. "

"The two groups will function in complete harmony in order to have better programs." Langevin says.

"Wrestling shows will continue on a weekly basis at Verdun Auditorium every Tuesday but Paul Sauve programs will be suspended until Aug 9, because of the Olympics. In the meantime Langevin will promote Monday night shows at Montreal North Arena beginning June 28."

Then, in the 1/28/77 Montreal Star, Olympia Pro Sports starts up in Montreal, with Bob Langevin and Jack Britton as the promotors.

To further complicate things, it looks like Grand Circuit went away, and Superstars Wrestling (not the same as the Superstar Wrestling formerly out of Montreal), headed by George Cannon started running Verdun in 1977.

I guess Cannon tried to get a foothold in Quebec?

That lasted until April, when Jack Britton took over.


--I can't remember which paper I got this from, but copied the below comments down last year.

"Professional wrestling at Verdun Auditorium has its 10th promoter in seven years today with the announcement that Montrealer Jack Britton has bought out the interests of LaSalle native George Cannon. Britton also controls pro wrestling at Paul Sauve Arena on Monday nights along with partners Gino Brito (his son) and Dominic DeNucci. Bob Langvin Is matchmaker for the Britton group with Joe Belanger as secretary"

1971 notes (will update as I go):

In the tournament on 2/22 in Montreal, Ivan Koloff was advertised, but he wrestled elsewhere on that date.
I'm pretty certain that it's "Wellie" Tremblay, not Willie. I think I remember finding him referenced as Wellington Tremblay somewhere.
Boris Kosloff's real name was Aurele Herbert which doesn't help me identify him, but maybe someone else recognises the name.

Thank you Kriss, I'll make the changes to Wellie's name going forward. bkb, and Indikator, thank you for the updates as well!

I'm going to assume that Dick Medrano is probably the oldest living wrestler at 101 years old?

I'll defer to you because I only had a vague recollection of seeing Wellington somewhere. When I see an unusual spelling used often enough, I tend to think that is the correct one, because you'd always assume it was Willie unless someone told you it was Wellie. I hope he's enjoying us discussing his name and poring over his wrestling career some 50 years later, wherever he is.

Ok, great, thanks Kriss!

Quick question for all of y'all.

Would y'all like to see all the promoted Montreal cards for 1976, or just those that were promoted by Superstar/Northway Celebrity Wrestling? I ask, as it looks like Grand Circuit takes over the Montreal promotion in October, as the 10/4/76 Montreal card is said to be promoted by the Grand Circuit group.

I was thinking of keeping the 2 entities separate, as I plan to post the groups that worked in Verdun (Grand Prix/Celebrity/Grand Circuit, etc) later on.

From the June 4, 1976 Montreal Star
Wrestling shakeup here: JTR PROMOTIONS which ran Superstar wrestling shows at Paul Sauve Arena every Monday night has been sold.

The new owners are the Norway (Northway?) Celebrity Wrestling Company in which Roger Jutras has been installed as president and Huguette Charland
as secretary. However the licence still belongs to promoter Bob Langevin who works for Johnny Rougeau's Eastern Sports Enterprises.

In Verdun, Grand Circuit Wrestling has undergone a similar shakeup. Robert Metfaot is the new president of that group with Steve Paradis
the vice-president and Mrs. Raymond Sicotte secretary.

"The two groups will function in complete harmony in order to have better programs." Langevin says.

Wrestling shows will continue on a weekly basis at Verdun Auditorium every Tuesday but Paul Sauve programs will be suspended until Aug 9
because of the Olympics In the meantime Langevin will promote Monday night shows at Montreal North Arena beginning June 28.

There will also be an outdoor show in Verdun Stadium July 6 In October Langevin will travel to Europe After speaking in front of the
International Ostomy Association in London he will continue on to Germany and Austria in search of pro wrestlers to bring back to Montreal.

--My note: Also around this time, the 2 groups seemed to have more crossover talent from Montreal and Verdun. Since, technically, they are still two separate groups, I'll list the Montreal shows, and list the Verdun shows when I get to posting the Grand Prix/Celebrity/Grand Circuit, etc. cards.